Philadelphia 76ers Notebook: Collins not rushing Bynum recovery

PHILADELPHIA — With Thad Young out for three weeks with a hamstring strain and the Sixers desperately trying to remain relevant in the NBA’s Eastern Conference, it could be a call to quicker duty for one Andrew Bynum.

Then again...“You don’t do that,” Doug Collins said Tuesday, after practice at the PCOM Center. “Then, you set him back and now you are in trouble. So you can’t do that. You can’t rob Peter to pay Paul.”

The Sixers acted as if they’d robbed the Lakers so they could pay Bynum $16.8 million this season, but have yet to have him in one game.

Recovering from sore knees, Bynum made a brief public appearance at PCOM Tuesday, walking (without a limp) across the floor to chat with Collins, then leaving. A night earlier, the 7-foot center was unable to pinpoint a target date for a return.

Collins has made his position crystal: He will not use his influence or people-skills to rush Bynum’s recovery. The Sixers’ players have adopted a similar stance.

“I mean, whenever he is ready to come back, we’ll be waiting for him,” said Lavoy Allen, whose minutes should rise in the absence of Young. “Until then, we’ve just got to play without him.”

•••Though Collins did not specify a starting lineup either for the Sixers’ game against the visiting Pacers Wednesday or for the duration of Young’s recovery, he made it clear Monday that rookie Arnett Moultrie would figure high in those plans.

“He should bring you energy,” Collins said. “He should be able to get out on pick-and-rolls. He should be able to get into rotations because he’s got good mobility. And he should rebound his position. So I think the big thing for him is going to be the physicality of playing post defense, how he does with that.

“Indiana throws (6-9, 250-pound) David West out there and (7-foot-2, 280) Roy Hibbert and (6-9, 250 Tyler) Hansbrough, three very physical, rugged guys. So I think that is one of the toughest things to do, just your initial post defense. But all the other things we do? He should know all our coverages. He should be a high-activity guy. He should be able to run the floor. So the better condition he should get in, he may be able to get some of those easy baskets by being able to get out and run a little bit.”

Moultrie is 6-10, 245 and has played 15 NBA games this season, including 11:43 Monday, when he scored four points in a 78-61 victory over Orlando. Earlier this season, he had been demoted to the NBA’s D-league.

“It’s the next man up,” Moultrie said. “We are all going to have to do it collectively and just bring a lot of energy, whoever the next man is. We have to be ready for whatever happens. We lost a man, now the opportunity is there for someone else to fill in with what the team needs.”

•••The loss of Thad Young dulled an otherwise brightening picture for the Sixers, who have won their last three.

“I just say it is because we are playing with confidence out there,” Nick Young said. “We know what we’ve got to do. And we know that if we lose so many, we won’t be in this playoff run any more. So, every game counts.”

That begins with Indiana, as rough a team as there is in the NBA East.

“Do I feel we’ve turned the corner?” Collins said. “I feel we are playing better. I would like to see a more sustained effort. But I think we are playing better.”